


Pearl has a Type

by florascerbic



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Gay, Gay Space Rocks, Lesbian, One-Sided Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-15 10:45:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8053336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/florascerbic/pseuds/florascerbic
Summary: Pearl has a HUGE GAY CRUSH on Mystery Girl.





	1. Greetings from Outer Space

                The morning after the concert, I was standing over Steven’s bed, waiting for him to wake up. I tapped my foot, and it was nearly loud enough to disturb him…but not quite. If I wore a watch, I would have looked at it repeatedly. Finally, FINALLY, he started to stir and I helped him along with my cheeriest voice.

                “Good morning Steven! How are you feeling?”

                “Uh…fine I guess? Kind of tired…what are you d—“

                “Not to worry Steven, I just have a couple of questions for you! Specifically, may I use your phone and also how does it work?!”

                “OH is this about that giiiirrrrllllll?” Steven winked at me.

                “It could be. Now, I made you breakfast, and you can explain while you eat.”

                “But Pearl, you always tell me not to talk with my mouth full cause I could choke…”

                “Steven,” I took a deep breath, “I just really need to talk to this girl.”

                “The Myyyyssstery Girl?

                I sighed. This was going to be a challenging morning.

***

                Through breakfast, I slowly pried the precious knowledge of the phone from Steven. Fortunately, he didn’t mention her resemblance to Rose again. It’s not my fault I have a type. It’s just a little awkward that his mom was my type. There were certainly clear strains of Rose in Mystery Girl. I tried to refrain from calling her Rose II. I knew she’d never replace Rose Quartz in the same way, but she seemed to be cool and brave and strong and beautiful just like Rose. With pink hair. I looked up at the painting of Rose over the doorway. When she was alive, I could never help but gaze at her billowing pink curls. She was so…majestic. No wonder I fell in love. Perhaps…perhaps Mystery Girl could be a second chance to be honest with my own feelings. Even Amethyst and Steven could tell I liked her right away. And Greg, wonderful guy that he is, can stay about 10,000 lightyears away from her.

                In an effort to start being “honest with my feelings” from the get-go, I began forming a text as Steven had showed me on his phone. I thought through several openers, from the affectionate “Heyy babe” I always heard in songs to a strict “This is Pearl. I wish to speak to you.” I finally settled on “Good morning earthling” since she seemed to find my references to Earth charming. It ended up being more like “Godo mroenig earthlieifn” at first but fortunately I proofread at least 7 times. _Send._  Time to wait.

                It was close to 11am when I finally got a text back. “Good morning sunshine, I just woke up! Is this Mystery Girl?” I read it several times, trying to understand. I suppose an earthling would be rather fond of sunshine, so I assumed this was a term of endearment. I hope she did not feel the need to wear a lot of sunscreen around me, as it smells very strong. Additionally, it would seem that while she is Mystery Girl to me, I too am Mystery Girl to her.

                After meticulously examining her response, I typed back “Yes, my name is Pearl! J what activities do you enjoy?” Steven had explained emojis to me. The concept is ancient, of course, but they seem to be a new thing in the humans’ eyes.

                “Well, I like taking long rides on my motorcycle, getting coffee at cute coffee shops, garage bands, meeting cute girls…but you already know all that! What do you like to do?”

                I blushed so hard that Amethyst didn’t even have to look over from across the room to laugh at me. Did she just call me cute?!?! Rose never called me cute.

                We continued chatting about things to do (“I like puzzles and training exercises” was my main contribution) until there was a pause, as I saw the little dots in the corner of the screen appear and disappear. I stared at it, once again waiting. Finally, “Do you wanna, idk, hang out sometime Pearl? You seem really cool.” I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack, or I would have if my form was something other than a physical manifestation of light. “YES. I mean, yes, that would be quite wonderful.” I thought for a moment, and then added “Would you like company on your next motorcycle ride?”

                “Sounds perfect, I’m taking one this afternoon along the cliffs. Come join me!” I fist pumped. SUCCESS! After working out the details of time and place, I settled back on the couch, thankful that there were no pressing missions today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk where this is going guys but ride with me on the journey to successful huge gay crushes for Pearl


	2. Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gay motorcycle rides and stargazing what more could you ask for

                After panicking for a little while about what to wear (and settling on the usual anyway), I finally heard the telltale rumble of the motorcycle. Ignoring the tightness in my chest, I slowly opened the screen door. Down the steps, Mystery Girl was waving, and I was seized by nearly the same combination of fear and excitement that I used to experience before going into battle. Internally screaming, I waved back. Why was this so hard? I had fought against armies! I walked down the steps to where Mystery Girl was sitting astride her bike. She was now wearing cropped jean shorts (legs?!!??!), a loose-fitting David Bowie t-shirt, and boots. Her lip piercing was blue this time. “Hop on” she said, and (fairly speechless) I complied.

                After putting on her spare helmet (so prepared!) we set off. She hadn’t told me her route in detail, and it seemed to be one I was unfamiliar with, having not spent a lot of time on roads. It wound along a mountain with peeks of the ocean far below in between clusters of summer trees. I was holding onto the strap between our seats, too wary to initiate touch just yet, but wanting so badly to wrap my arms around her. We rode in a comfortable silence, with the wind and road noise making it difficult to hear one another. I took the opportunity to gaze more at her shoulders and hair than at the actual scenery.

                Eventually, we slowed down at a bend in the road and she turned into a small parking lot next to a restaurant with a spectacular view. “This ok?” she said, and I nodded. Her hair was now windswept and twisted into elf knots now. It was still preventing me from speech. We walked inside, with her leading the way. “I actually don’t need nutrients of any kind to exist, but this place is nice” I said.

                She laughed. “Glad you like it. I love the veggie burgers here.”  She ordered one and, as before, a coffee. “The caffeine just doesn’t really affect me anymore, but I like how warm it is in the evening.” I supposed it was getting dark and probably chilly for a human. We continued to make conversation, shyly at first until we warmed up to one another. By the time her food came, I was in hysterics from her story about a garage band that played so hard the garage door wouldn’t stop opening and closing. We continued chatting as she ate, and I began to explain the rock on my forehead. She seemed enthralled, and I began to enjoy telling the story of gems, homeworld, and even the battle for earth. I finally relaxed enough to really enjoy being around her.

                When she finished her meal, it was nearly dark, and I wondered if she would start to get sleepy like Steven always does around this time. However, being an entirely different human, she said she wanted to keep going and that she loved night driving. I would have agreed to anything as long as I got to spend more time with her, so this was perfectly fine with me. We got back on the bike and set off again.

                The road began to slope up, and I got the impression that she had a destination in mind now. We started to follow a series of switchbacks up and up until we reached the top of a small mountain. By now, it was fully dark, and the stars were clearer than I was used to seeing them in beach city. We took off our helmets and stood there, gazing up, alone together. It reminded me of early Earth, and like everything else, Rose. I turned to look at her, face sparkling with the light of the moon and maybe a little bit of glittery makeup. My chest clenched, like it always would with Rose, but in a different way. We didn’t have thousands of years of gem culture defining our relationship this time—it was just us. Two beings in the universe inexplicably drawn to one another.

                She looked down at me, noticing that I had stopped stargazing. “What?” she said, smiling. I smiled back, unsure of how to explain thousands of years of unrequited love and the mysteries of the universe that were going through my brain. She laughed, and then did something Rose Quartz had never done in all our thousands of years together—she kissed me.

                At first I was unable to move, too dumbstruck by her willingness to break through the invisible barriers between us with such ease. Recovering quickly, however, I began to kiss her back, and finally let myself _feel_. The world grew hazy as I was seized by the need to act on that which I had held back on for so long. As I leaned into her, she wrapped her arms around me, lifting me onto my toes. It was perfect.

                When we finally stepped back, she was a bit breathless, and smiling again. I loved to see her smile. No, I thought, she was not Rose. Rose was unrequited angst, undying devotion, and eventually loss. She was my leader, my greatest friend, and the one I had sworn my life to protect. My feelings for her had overtaken me to the point of reckless abandon and senseless jealousy. This human was different. She was new and beautiful and she _kissed me back_ ; she had barely lived in this world, and yet she walked through it with a confidence that drew me in. And best of all, she was both willing and able to return my affection. Without the baggage of thousands of years complicating our relationship, we could have something precious and real. Despite this being only the first kiss, I could feel the loneliness of thousands of years welling within me.

                “Can I kiss you again?” I asked. She laughed joyfully, and agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listening to It's Over, Isn't It and having A LOT OF FEELINGS


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the fam

Eventually, after kissing for a wonderfully long time and stargazing some more, we decided it was time to head back home. As I settled onto the bike behind her, I tentatively asked whether I could put my arms around her. “You’re so CUTE!” she said, which I took to mean yes. She seemed a lot more comfortable with this physical touching than I was, which was nice. Made me feel less nervous about it. As much as I was used to being in contact with the gems, even going so far as to fuse with them, I spent very little time close to strangers. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be touched—I had even gone so far as to lie to Garnet in order to fuse with her in the past. I just had never had someone who freely and openly wanted to return my affection. I snuggled up to her back and nestled between her broad shoulders, cautiously content.

She finally dropped me back home (and gave me a dizzying kiss goodbye) around midnight. I tiptoed up the steps, not wanting to wake Steven or be immediately interrogated about how it went. I seemed to have used up all my luck for that night, though, when the lights flicked on as soon as I opened the door. Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven were lined up on the couch ready to interrogate me. Garnet looked smug (she had probably seen it already in her future vision), Amethyst looked psyched, and Steven looked sleepy but determined.

“So how was it?!” said Amethyst, bouncing up and down in her seat.

“It was…nice” I said, as I felt my cheeks warm with a green blush.

Amethyst whistled. “So did you kiss did you kiss??”

“Maybe,” I said, “but isn’t it past Steven’s bedtime?”

“No use in changing the subject now, Pearl.” Garnet said in her usual steady voice. “Steven’s been refusing to sleep until you tell us all about it.”

I blushed again and grinned, conceding defeat.

***

The next day Steven was woken up by the buzz of a text, which I quickly intercepted before he could grab it. “Morning, cutie” it said, and I quickly decided that I would need to procure my own phone for privacy. This would simply not do. In the meantime, I sent several blushy-faced emojis, since that’s what I was doing in real life.

We had a couple of missions to do that day, though nothing too extreme, so I didn’t get to talk with her much until the evening. We texted through Steven’s dinner, and I sent her picture of my progress on my puzzle. She was very impressed. We began planning our next date, perhaps to see a movie (it’s a very classic human date, according to her) or get coffee. Unfortunately, I still had no interest in human food or watching humans who were not her, so I suggested Funland. Thankfully, this was an appropriate human date as well.

Fast forward a few days, and we were walking down the boardwalk (gasp) holding hands! Her other hand was occupied with holding a massive cloud of cotton candy, while mine was used to point to things that Steven had talked about when I mentioned where we were going. I was about 87% sure all three of those troublemakers were following us from a few steps behind, but I couldn’t bring myself to call them out on it. Instead, I insisted we go into the arcade, where I could at least win her some sort of prize with my superior reflexes. This I did, and she walked away with a large green “alien” balloon (very inaccurate but charming).

As we walked away from the arcade, I heard a small stranger with a moustache and dark glasses shout “that’s the one Peridot has!” Aaaaand there was Steven. Subtle. Putting on my most winning smile, I introduced her to the group, glaring at Steven, Amethyst, and Garnet respectively whenever she wasn’t looking. Steven’s mysterious sunglasses were about to fall off he was so excited, while Amethyst kept going for a fistpump (I grudgingly returned it) and Garnet made actual conversation. My Mystery Girl, of course, charmed them all.

Garnet suggested that I bring my date back home to show her around, everyone immediately agreed to. After my initial interest, however, I became apprehensive. What if it wasn’t up to her human standards? Hopefully Steven’s lifestyle was close enough to hers that she would feel at home.


End file.
